This moist and fluffy vanilla cupcake recipe is everything you want a cupcake to be. Light and fluffy with lots of flavor in a little bite! The buttermilk adds a wonderful tang, and a little bit of oil makes these cupcakes very moist. I may have eaten a couple without any frosting! If you like my white velvet buttermilk cake or my vanilla cake, you will love these cupcakes!
I love these vanilla cupcakes because there are so many frosting options that go with this recipe. You can combine it with strawberry buttercream to make strawberry shortcake cupcakes. Or frost them with some yummy chocolate ganache or chocolate buttercream. For lemon lovers, try filling your cupcakes with some lemon curd and topping them with fresh stabilized whipped cream. You can even add spices to the batter and make them into spice cake or add in sprinkles to make them funfetti cupcakes! This is seriously the best vanilla cupcake recipe.
Table of contents
Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients
Buttermilk is essential to this recipe because it adds flavor and moisture. Buttermilk is acidic and actually breaks down the gluten in the flour, making a more tender cupcake as well. If you have whole milk and white vinegar or lemons, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
Oil is important for keeping the cupcakes moist, but too much oil in a recipe will cause the wrappers to peel away from the cupcake.
Cake flour is what makes these cupcakes extra soft and fluffy. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method, which coats the flour in a layer of butter and then whips in the air. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, so it's important to use it to get the right texture. If you don't have cake flour, you can try using my cake flour substitute recipe, or try searching for "Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour."
Making Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
I recommend first making the vanilla cupcakes, and then making the frosting while the cupcakes are in the oven. They will need time to cool after baking, so don't pipe frosting onto a warm cupcake.
If you're making these for an event, it's best to frost and fill them on the same day that you're going to deliver and serve them.
Making Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cupcake pans (or a muffin pan will do) with paper liners. You can also bake one pan at a time if you only have one cupcake pan. This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a separate measuring cup and set it aside. Protip – Use clear vanilla extract for that “classic grocery store cake” flavor. Use good quality vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or even a vanilla bean for true vanilla flavor. One vanilla bean = 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Next, add the eggs and oil to a separate bowl then whisk and set them aside.
- Add the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix for longer. Use these photos as a guide instead of mixing by time.
- Then add the softened butter to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Depending on how soft your butter is, this might take a minute or two.
- Pour the milk mixture into your dry ingredients and increase the speed to medium (speed 4 on a KitchenAid, speed 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 1 ½ minutes to develop the fluffy structure of the cupcake. The batter will go from being yellow to a fluffy white.
- Slowly add your egg mixture in three parts and mix on low until it's fully combined.
- Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full with the cupcake batter. I use my kitchen scale to measure out 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and the center of the cupcake springs back when you lightly touch it. I rotate my cupcakes halfway through baking for even browning. If you’re making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place your favorite frosting into a piping bag with a tip, I like a 1M or a 2F, and pipe a swirl on top. I love using my easy vanilla buttercream and topping them with a few sprinkles. Swiss meringue buttercream or strawberry buttercream would also be delicious.
Making Easy Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine the ingredients on low and then whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Now add in the salt and vanilla extract. If you want to add in any food coloring, now is the time.
- Add in your softened butter piece-by-piece, then whip it on high. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow, just keep whipping.
- After your buttercream looks like this, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Whip it on high for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it’s ready!
- Finally, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the buttercream on low speed for up to 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream ultra smooth and remove any air bubbles. This step is optional, but if you want really creamy frosting, you don’t want to skip this final step.
- For extra white buttercream, add a drop of purple food coloring. The purple counteracts the yellow in the butter, toning the buttercream to make it white.
Storing Vanilla Cupcakes
These cupcakes are best eaten within 24 hours of baking, and can sometimes dry out in the fridge. If you're using a buttercream that is shelf stable, store them in an airtight container on the shelf for up to 2 days.
Baked cupcakes without frosting can be frozen in ziplock bags for up to 6 months.
If you're using a fruit filling or frosting that isn't shelf stable, it's best to refrigerate them after about 4 hours. I love filling these cupcakes with fresh homemade raspberry filling.
Tips For Baking From Scratch
*This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on them I might get a few pennies.
I suggest purchasing a kitchen scale if you don't already have one to make the best scratch recipes. One cup of flour can vary from scoop to scoop depending on how packed the flour is and the humidity in your area. Too little or too much flour can ruin your recipe, so all of my cake recipes (except doctored box mixes) use a scale.
Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place) which means you measure everything before you start mixing so you don't accidentally forget something or add any ingredients out of order. I use a set of medium and small pyrex glass bowls I got from goodwill for this and it makes things SO much easier.
Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature or even a tiny bit on the warm side. I warm my milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. The butter should be soft enough to live an indent in it when you press it but firm enough that it’s still holding its shape. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to warm them up.
FAQ
You might be baking at too low of a temperature. Baking at 350ºF makes the cupcake nice and fluffy and set’s the dome. Baking at too low of a temperature will make your cupcakes flat. Not sure what your oven temperature is? You can get an oven thermometer to calibrate the temperature of your oven.
The secret to fluffy cupcakes is enough baking powder to really get that high rise and higher oven temperature to create a lot of lift and to set the dome of the cupcake. Too much liquid in your cupcakes or over-filling your liners can cause them to collapse.
It could be that your recipe has too much liquid, oil, or that your liners are not grease-proof. Your liners can also pull away if you are storing your cupcakes in a closed container and the moisture causes them to pull away.
You can easily change the flavor of these cupcakes from vanilla to lemon or spice by replacing the extract and adding in things like spices or zest. You can also add up to ¼ cup of any dry ingredient like sprinkles, crushed Oreos, or fruit without changing the recipe.
If you cover your cupcakes with plastic wrap or put them in a container before they are completely cooled, condensation will collect on top of the cupcake and make it soggy.
Cupcakes can shrink from over-mixing your batter, over-baking, or too much fat/liquid in the recipe
Cupcakes can be frozen in ziplock bags for up to 6 months.
Sour cream or milk mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar make great buttermilk substitutes. Be sure to check out my buttermilk blog post for more substitutes.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Paddle Attachment
- Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- 10 ounces cake flour
- 9 ounces granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 5 ounces buttermilk room temperature or slightly warm
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Easy Buttercream Frosting Recipe
- 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 24 ounces powdered sugar
- 24 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tiny drop purple food coloring optional for whiter frosting
Instructions
Making Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cupcake pans (or a muffin pan will do) with paper liners. You can also bake one pan at a time if you only have one cupcake pan. This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a separate measuring cup and set it aside.
- Next, add the eggs and oil to a separate bowl then whisk and set them aside.
- Add the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix for longer. Use these photos as a guide instead of mixing by time.
- Then add the softened butter to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Depending on how soft your butter is, this might take a minute or two.
- Pour the milk mixture into your dry ingredients and increase the speed to medium (speed 4 on a KitchenAid, speed 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 1 ½ minutes to develop the fluffy structure of the cupcake. The batter will go from being yellow to a fluffy white.
- Slowly add your egg mixture in three parts and mix on low until it's fully combined.
- Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full with the cupcake batter. I use my kitchen scale to measure out 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and the center of the cupcake springs back when you lightly touch it. I rotate my cupcakes halfway through baking for even browning. If you’re making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place your favorite frosting into a piping bag with a tip, I like a 1M or a 2F, and pipe a swirl on top. I love using my easy vanilla buttercream and topping them with a few sprinkles. Swiss meringue buttercream or strawberry buttercream would also be delicious.
Making Easy Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine the ingredients on low and then whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Now add in the salt and vanilla extract. If you want to add in any food coloring, now is the time.
- Add in your softened butter piece-by-piece, then whip it on high. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow, just keep whipping.
- After your buttercream looks like this, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Whip it on high for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it’s ready!
- Finally, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the buttercream on low speed for up to 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream ultra smooth and remove any air bubbles. This step is optional, but if you want really creamy frosting, you don’t want to skip this final step.
- For extra white buttercream, add a drop of purple food coloring. The purple counteracts the yellow in the butter, toning the buttercream to make it white.
Video
Notes
- For the best rise, fill your liners ⅔ with cupcake batter or 1 ½ ounces per cupcake
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing your batter (milk, butter, eggs).
- Use clear vanilla extract for that “classic grocery store cake” flavor. Use good quality vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or even a vanilla bean for true vanilla flavor. One vanilla bean = 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF for 30 minutes before baking to give your cupcakes a good rise and set the dome.
- Baked cupcakes can be frozen for up to 6 months.
- Buttermilk is essential to this recipe because it adds flavor and moisture. If you have whole milk and white vinegar or lemons, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
- Cake flour is what makes these cupcakes extra soft and fluffy. If you don't have cake flour, you can try using my cake flour substitute recipe, or try searching for "Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour."
Mindy says
I tried this recipe for the first time last weekend and it was pretty amazing! Could I use this recipe to make some cookies and cream cupcakes?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yep! Just add in 1/4 cup crushed oreos
Sophia says
Hi there it’s says butter in the recipe but there is no step to add it in. Can you let me know if buyer doesn’t go in the cupcake batter?
Elizabeth Marek says
There is, it's step #5 with all the dry ingredients.
Angela says
Hi could you tell me if you have a sugargeekscook book for the cake's as I would love a one for a gift
thank you
Elizabeth Marek says
My cookbook is called artisan cake companies visual guide to cake decorating on amazon 🙂
Lorenda says
How does it work to bake them a day before you frost them, and how should I store them until then? I’m wanting to bake them today and decorate them tomorrow for my daughter’s birthday party.
Elizabeth Marek says
You could just place them onto a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.
Lorenda says
Thanks, I’ll give it a try. I’m excited to see how they turn out! I put sprinkles in the batter also to make it more fun. 😉
Nalah says
Do you use full fat buttermilk in this recipe or low-fat?
Elizabeth Marek says
I'm not sure, mine just says buttermilk
Cristina Domingues says
Hi Liz ! I did your vanilla cake for my goddaughter wedding and it was amazing, thank you ! For your vanilla cupcakes can I use plain yogurt instead of the buttermilk?
Elizabeth Marek says
Greek yogurt would work best
Angie says
Hi Liz ! I’m a big fan of your work and very appreciative that you joyfully share your baking wisdom. You crack me up many a video. I was wondering... if using Greek yogurt as a substitute for buttermilk, should I thin it out with a little milk to achieve same consistency? And I’ve read that most buttermilk produced today is actually cultured so wouldn’t using yogurt actually be a better substitute than the commonly recommended milk with lemon juice which is just acidified milk and not cultured ? Thank you in advance.
Elizabeth Marek says
You don't need to thin it out. The only thing we're really concerned about in baking is acidity. Whether it's cultured or not doesn't really matter.
Jessie says
Hi Chef Liz! I am new in baking and I learned a lot of techniques in your tutorials. Grateful and lucky to come across your youtube videos...since then I've been watching you. I love all your videos its easy and very enticing...this video for one...I love the aroma of vanilla and its fluffiness and oohhh so moist. 💗🥰 Thank you for all the videos for the newbies like me.
Sam says
Hi, hope you are well. Can I make my own buttermilk and if so, what is the ratio please?
Thank you ☺️
Elizabeth Marek says
Check out my buttermilk substitute post https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/buttermilk-substitute/
CakeLady95 says
Awesome cupcakes! Turned out moist and fluffy...as advertised and always with SugarGeek's recipes.
Two questions:
1. You state this makes 24 cupcakes, this made 12 in my standard muffin tin. My liners with about 7/8 full.
2. My cupcakes rose and then flattened out so they the muffin tops were stuck to the pan making the cupcakes hard to remove from the pan. Is there anything to do to stop this?
Elizabeth Marek says
Sounds like you just over-filled your pans. I put 1 1/2 ounces of batter in each cupcake liner. Muffin tins are twice as big as cupcakes tins so you can see why you only got 12.
Bozena says
Hi😊 I absolutelly adore all your recipies. I baked vanilla cupcakes and banana cake today. Banana cake came out perfect but had few issues with cupcakes. I loved the texture of the cupcakes, they were light, moist and fluffy but have two issues:
1). The cupcakes came out very sweet...a little bit too sweet for me. Is it something I did wrong or they just on the sweeter side? Can I increase the salt to 1tsp next time or will they be too sweet?
2). The first batch of cupcakes, I baked at 170C for around 20 minutes and they were baked but turned out crispy on top and more golden than in your pictures. When they were just light browned on the edges, they were not baked inside yet. For the second batch, I reduced the heat to 160C, they were less crispy on top but browned to much before they were done🤔 Any advise would be highly appreciated😘
Elizabeth Marek says
I have actually noticed that when I bake my cupcakes in a toaster oven type oven they get brown a lot faster even though the temp is the same. Maybe try moving them further away from the top of the oven if possible. The sugar helps them to be very moist but you could remove 2 ounces of sugar and they would still be ok, just maybe not quite as fluffy and soft
Bozena Iwuamadi says
Thank you for your reply. I actually left the cupcakes in the air tight container over night and the crispy top has disappeared! They are soft on top and lovely.
Also, I tasted them yesterday when they were still warm from the oven and they tasted much sweeter but when I tasted them today they tasted just right👌👌👌 Weird right?🤔
Anyway, I wanted to say a huge thank you! This cupcakes are trully perfect! I have been looking for a perfect vanills cupcakes for such a long time and those ones are just amazing😍
Maggie Watson says
Hi Liz, I’m sorry if you’ve been asked this 100 times but I’m in the UK and we don’t have cake flour. Do you know if it’s plain flour that we should use, ie the one with no added raising agents? Thank you!
Elizabeth Marek says
Search for Shipton mills cake and pastry flour in the UK
Emmy says
I tried this and when I slightly left my buttermilk to warm. It curdled. I tried second time with vinegar and milk and then left in a pot of warm water and curdled again but I used it anyhow . But I haven't still eatten them after baking . I hope they'll be good. My batter turned runny too at the end ☹️ and I felt a gush of disappointment. I don't know why it happened. It was not like your scoopable batter . I had to pour.
Elizabeth Marek says
Curdled buttermilk is not a problem. The texture of the batter depends on how warm your ingredients are. You haven't done anything wrong.
Amy How says
i made the cupcakes over the weekend and the taste was very good. My only problem was that my cupcake liners did pull away badly. You mentioned, one of the reason is we shouldnt store the cupcake liners in a container, may I know why? because i actually did that and is there a way to save the cupcake liners or I have to buy new ones? thanks
Elizabeth Marek says
In my experience, storing liners in containers stretch them out (stacking them on top of each other) so that when you bake, the liners pull away.
Christine Najera says
Good afternoon! I can't wait to try this recipe, I just had one question. The cake flour says 10 oz ang the sugar says 9 oz yet in grams they both say to weigh out 284 gr. Which one is correct for the sugar. 9 oz or 284 gr which is 10 oz?
Elizabeth Marek says
The flour is 284g and the sugar is 255g
Trinity says
Is there going to be extra icing after decorating the cupcakes. If so can I cut the recipe in half. I'm so excited to try these. TIA
Elizabeth Marek says
It really just depends on how you make your cupcakes. The recipe is for a swirl of buttercream on each cupcake.
saba says
hi liz, whats the difference between 2/3 and 3/4 cups??
also can I halve this recipe?
Elizabeth Marek says
If an object is divided into three and you take two of those pieces, that's 2/3. If you divide an object into 4 and you take 3 of those pieces, that's 3/4. 2/3 is bigger than 3/4 because you are dividing the object into fewer pieces.
Casey says
Can I add mini chocolate chips into the batter?
Thanks!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can
Brenda says
Can i add sprinkles to this recipe to make funfetti cupcakes?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can
Leigh says
When I added the vanilla to the buttermilk it curdled. I use real vanilla extract and room temperature ingredients. Any idea what happened?
PS. Your vanilla cake recipe is my favourite and the most recent version is fool proof.
Elizabeth Marek says
You could have added the liquid too quickly
Elizabeth Harvey says
Do you have a metric conversion for me in Australia? Can’t wait to bake these beauties
Elizabeth Marek says
Just click the metric button on the recipe card 🙂
Morgan says
How long is the buttercream good for? Can it sit at room temperature even with the pasteurized egg whites? Thanks! I’m a huge fan of your recipes!
Sugar Geek Show says
Thanks! The easy buttercream lasts up to 2 days at room temp, 2 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer. Just melt 1/4 cup in the microwave and pour it back in while re-whipping to use it again.
Sarah says
Hi Liz,
Can I make these 24 hours ahead including the frosting ?
Sugar Geek Show says
Sure can!